My Friend Was Killed

My friend the tiger
Was killed by the people
Who enslaved his jungle,
By those shameless creatures.
He stood up for his home,
So beautiful, so lone...
And suddenly they shot him!
He was alive when skinned
And left was in the jungle
Naked body of the tiger. 

My friend the elephant
Was killed by the poachers.
Like the midnight assailants,
Like the blood-stained butchers,
Like unforgivable sins;
They cut through his skin
The color of sea at dusk,
They cut off his majestic tusks.
And all deaf to his moans,
They ripped out his bones,
And didn't notice his trunk
Reaching hopelessly to the sky. 

My friend the deer
Was killed by the hunters.
In his forest they appeared,
They took away his antlers,
They took away his pride,
And sawed off his head as he woefully cried.
And they took all his muscles to cook them in a pot
And all that remained was just carcass left to rot.

My friend the she-bear
Was also killed today.
For the babies she wanted to cover
She tried to scare them away.
Now those poor kids are dying
Because of starvation and cold
Since her lifeless body
Is so icy and void. 

And I? I'm just a human girl,
Who think of her friends in more humane way,
Who understands their loss and their pain,
And knows those murders have to stop one day.
I'd like this to be known by every damn man,
But�"I'm just a girl. And I do what I can:
My bones to the elephant I give,
To the tiger I give my skin,
To the deer I give my muscles and head,
My warmth and milk to the little bears.
I rip off my own chest and give all me away,
But the humans�"they receive my hate.

Author's Note

Disclaimer: I am against poaching, I'm NOT (exactly) against hunting. Hunting is necessary, as long as it's strictly controlled, not 'here, have a rifle and now go and shoot at whatever you like, have fun!' kind, AND it's done to keep a population of a species in check while other actions are taken to bring back the natural balance in the ecosystem. Basically, the deer stanza is there for continuity.

Reviews

[Allen Smuckler]

This is such a sensitive, honest, liquid write Harmonia....that's right, liquid...It flowed beautifully and passionately from line to shining line... You did an admirable job conveying the atrocities of poaching or just plain killing for killing's sake. When used, the rhyming was very effective but the write lost some of the cadence and rhythm because of the irregular scheme...
Also, and this isn't a dig, but seems like the title should be "My friends were Killed"...whatever
it was a poignant write and enjoyable to read.
allen

[Harmonia Chimera]

I chose to use the singular form in the title, because it's not exactly supposed to describe the contents of the poem. It's supposed to draw attention, and using the singular form emphasizes the friendship and the close relationship between the friends here. The sentence, "My friends were killed." carries less emotional burden than the sentece, "My friends was killed, which focuses on each friend individually.

[Allen Smuckler]

gotcha...makes terrific sense,
thanks for the explanation Harmonia, it shows great thought and insight.
I loved the write. Thanks for sharing.
allen

[VladKobletski]

I really enjoyed this, the title grabbed my attention and you held it all the way through. It certainly makes you think and it was well put together and scanned smoothly.

[Harmonia Chimera]

Thanks a lot, sweetheart! That's exactly what I wanted to achieve.

[Karen]

This is an excellent poem bringing awareness about poaching to a larger group of people. Sometimes all a person can do is make others aware of the problem, but that is enough to get the ball rolling. Thank you for writing and sharing this poem!

[Harmonia Chimera]

And thank YOU for the fantastic review! The comments I have gotten so far spoke of how moving or interesting this poem was, but they somehow missed the message we need to get out. We need more governments banning and actively getting rid of poaching by locking up poachers and closing the markets for the pieces of animals that come from poached animals, like ivory (which can just as well be acquired from bodies of elephants that died of natural causes), because otherwise we'll lose more species than we already had for the sake of Chinese alternative medicine or something. I mean, tigers are already endangered, elephants probably, too. Bears are extinct in many parts of the world where they were once abundant, and still, they're all being killed by hands of poachers and uncontrolled hunters.
Okay. Sorry for the rant. I'm very glad you liked it!

[Karen]

It shows that you are passionate about the subject and there is nothing more powerful than a passionate poet!